Yes, although the standard of proof used is somewhat higher, being beyond reasonable doubt rather than balance of probabilities, and it's enforced by the courts rather than any club.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with John Terry if he's found guilty of it by the Magistrates - the United fan who pleaded guilty to racial abuse is banned from entering any football stadium in the UK for 3 years, and required to surrender his passport whenever England play abroad.

Just had a wee look at the people's website. Now there's a sports section which is regularly updated!

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It really is awful. Their "headline article" says it all:

'Luis Suarez is a disgrace and should be sold, says Sir Akex Ferguson'

And has been like that since the 12th of Feb.

Still no article on The People's website and the only article published today by the person who was supposed to do this supposed article on Luis Suarez is this:

Trashing of Newcastle’s proud name is sign of football crimes

THE removal of 11 letters and one apostrophe.

That was all it took to sum up the supreme arrogance of football’s owners and administrators.

Their utter contempt for hard-pressed supporters who scrape together scant disposable income each month, and invest so much emotion over a lifetime, simply for the great escape of following their team.

When a Mike Ashley henchman took his crowbar to the words ‘St James’ Park’ on Thursday, he did much more than vandalise the cathedral which dominates Newcastle’s skyline and the club which represents a proud region.

His actions symbolised a sneering sense of untouchability which stretches from Glasgow to the south coast, *leaving supporters of Rangers and Portsmouth fretting over the very *existence of their clubs.

It comes to a pretty pass when that well-loved figure the Taxman is openly applauded for challenging the outlaw mentality which has seen millions in tax unpaid and an erect middle finger aimed at wider society.

Corrupt

The supposed guardians of the game, the FA and league chiefs north and south of the border, are complicit in all of this. They tossed the words ‘fit and proper person’ in our *direction, then allowed any old arms trafficker or fraudster to mismanage clubs.

The result, at Pompey, has been the financial serial killing of a club by a succession of owners, ranging from the corrupt to the incompetent to one who was literally non-existent.

It is all an insult to the intelligence of supporters. Football’s default setting. Through-the-looking-glass, what’s-black-is-white doublespeak.

Star players, through pliant PR men and paranoid club blazers, are *presented to us as if Hello! magazine had merged with Pravda.

Luis Suarez is innocent, Carlos Tevez is a victimised ‘dog’, John Terry is an inspirational leader of men and Santa Claus is coming to town. In the past week alone, I’ve had some interesting words spoken to me by one England footballer erased by an agent and seen another interview agreed by a perfectly happy England player *kiboshed by his club.

That’s my funeral, and no concern of yours, but sometimes this approach is exposed as so much old hooey, and people realise football is populated by a disproportionate number of downright toerags.

Then the worst thing of all happens and the FA launch an ‘initiative’.

Footballers are getting a bad press? Let’s have a respect campaign. Let’s line them all up and get them to shake hands with each other. Oh, nobody wants to shake hands with the England captain? OK, let’s call the whole thing off then and sack the England captain. Without consulting the England *manager we handed a new £12million two-year deal before he’d even gone to the World Cup. Then feign surprise when he walks.

This isn’t leadership. It’s blind panic. And football needs leader*ship, now more than ever.

For just when the game thought it was sanitised and *respectable, it has found itself infected by a virulent strain of racism.

On the field, on the terraces and online, the sewers are overflowing.

It is a toxic situation, which is *unsettling the foreign owners, the shirt sponsors and the TV executives who peddle the English football ‘brand’ worldwide.

Yet managers refuse to accept FA verdicts, chairmen tell abused players they should just ‘get on with it’, clubs refuse to clamp down properly on *offensive chanting.

Black

And the only response is empty rhetoric.

Around a quarter of professional footballers in the English game are black and yet the over-achieving Chris Hughton and Chris Powell remain the only two black managers.

Still nobody sees a correlation and nobody is inclined to legislate.

If they cannot get a handle on such major issues, the game’s rulers are hardly likely to speak out against the removal of 11 letters and an apostrophe.

In Newcastle, on Thursday night, somebody sprayed the stadium’s true name back on to the wall of the ‘Sports Direct Arena’ – now supposedly little more than a vast advertisement for a recession-proof ‘pile ’em high and flog ’em cheap’ sportswear empire.

The graffiti artist now faces *prosecution – while football’s true vandals continue to sneer and thrive.

I can't remember where it was discussed but didn't the president of Uruguay come out and say Suarez was the victim

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That was the captain but the President of Uruguay also talked about it:

"It is vital for Suarez to feel from so far away the love that Uruguay has for him. That is why we show solidarity with Suarez," the head of state insisted in a speech broadcast on M24.

Mujica went on to praise the 25-year-old for climbing out of poverty to become a world-class footballer.

"He is a brilliant example on the pitch, a humble kid who escaped from poverty."

Mujica finished by criticising the outrage caused by Suarez's actions on Saturday. He dubbed the scandal "exaggerated", underlined that Suarez "did not have a single racist bone" and pointed out that a "footballer does not study diplomatic protocol".

"I can't believe it. They are making a big mistake. It's obvious that in England they have a racism problem which they are trying to address, and it's okay, but here they don't have solid evidence. Luis is a victim. I can't believe that a player like Evra can do this. He is breaking all the ethics of soccer," declared Uruguay captain Diego Lugano.

"All of us know what type of person Luis is, and the values that he has. We are all very hurt. When a team-mate of ours is suffering, we are all suffering. Now all we can do is support him and be on his side," he added.

How dare Evra report racism. That's against the very fundamentals upon which football stands.

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No, no, no, you've got it all wrong. If you laugh at racism and call everyone negro, racism no longer exists! Further more, when everyone just stops fighting the inevitable that John Barnes is a scientific genius, we'll learn that there's no such thing as race and thus racism cannot possibly exist!

We got it all wrong, those bananas were from well wishers thinking Johnny needed fattening up. How stupid and ignorant are we? I feel bad now

Liverpool Football Club has come under fierce criticism from an influential group of high profile, local and national black leaders, alongside a host of anti racist organisations.

The group have written an open letter delivered today accusing LFC and manager Kenny Dalglish of grossly mishandling the Saurez/Patrice Evra affair contributing to the incitement of racism in football and wider society. We know that they have had good advice to assist them and refused to take it choosing instead to continue on in this manner.

The group called on LFC to accept the findings of the FA investigation that concluded that Suarez had racially abused Evra and offer an immediate and unreserved apology to Evra.

LFC is accused of colluding with racism by seeking to dismiss the FA's findings and racially aggravating this sensitive issue by inappropriately and misguidedly showing public team support for Suarez post the publication of the FA's investigative report into these matters. The refusal of Suarez to shake Evra's hand was a further incitement of racism. The group called on LFC to acknowledge the implicit racism involved and issue a statement with other civic leaders committing themselves to opposing racism and to commit to organise a conference on racism in football.

Gloria Hyatt MBE said

" Liverpool Football Club has presided over the worst incident of racism in football seen in recent years. Their misguided handling of Suarez/Evra has let down all of those in the city who worked hard to challenge racism and make Liverpool a better place to live for everyone."

Lee Jasper a national human rights and race equality campaigner said

" The club including the owners, the players and the manager need to realise the enormous damage caused by their reluctance and obdurate behaviour. Kenny Daglish used to manage Celtic he ought to know the importance of stamping out bigotry. The club failed the city, the nation as a whole and in particular Britain's black communities. Their abysmal lack of leadership on this issues has given a green light to racism. They must make urgent reparations and make a clear and unequivocal apology".Letter sent to Liverpool FC:

Statement of Intent

We the undersigned wish to express our grave concerns about the inadequate responses of Liverpool Football Club to the findings by the FA regulatory commission that determined Luis Saurez was guilty of racially insulting the Manchester United player, Patrice Evra.

Football is a unifying sport providing pleasure and entertainment to billions of people across the planet. Young people from every corner of our world passionately support their team. Football players are held in high regard and viewed as positive role models.

Clubs, players and managers have an important and globally recognized responsibility to demonstrate their commitment to the principle of common decency and fair play. Throughout the world, both on and off the football pitch they inspire and socially educate billions of young people who admire and mimic their actions.

The issue of racism in football is one that requires unambiguous anti racist leadership. The actions of LFC in the run up to and following the publication of the FA’s findings fell short of the high standard of leadership expected for a team of their standing in the football community.

LFC actions, in vehemently rejecting the findings of the FA inquiry, their public displays of support for a player found guilty of racist abuse and his subsequent refusal to shake the hand of Evra at a recent game is completely unacceptable. These actions we believe could be considered as inciting racial intolerance.

Whilst the subsequent apologies for the failure to engage with the traditions of a pre game “hand shake” are to be welcomed, there remains deep concern, about LFC’s absolute refusal to accept the findings of the FA’s investigation. As such these apologies fail to meet the test of genuine remorse and understanding. This is further negated by LFC’s failure to apologise for racism either through the club or Suarez.

Neither have LFC recognised or acknowledged the consequent damage to race relations resulting from their actions and recognised by many people of all races across the country. As a result, efforts to combat racism in football and the wider society in general have been critically undermined.

Compounding these serious errors is the failures of Liverpool’s civic leaders, many of whom have remained silent on these critical issues and have failed to publicly condemn LFC’s decision not to robustly and effectively challenge racism.

Such is the overwhelming power of the Premier League and the influence of clubs such as LFC it is imperative that this situation cannot be allowed to stand.
The international reputation of Liverpool as a city committed to race equality is at stake. In addition there is a real and urgent need to restore confidence in the campaign against racism in football, both here, in the UK and across the world.

To this end we have four key demands;

that LFC publicly accept the findings of the FA into the Suarez case.
that LFC and Suarez publicly apologize to Patrice Evra.
that LFC in partnership with Liverpool and national black and ethnic minority organisations commit to and sponsor an international conference on the issue of eradicating racism in football.
that civic leaders in addition to LFC sign up to a public declaration reaffirming their commitment to combating racism and promoting race equality through pro active actions.

I know people just want it over and done with, but to me a public apology from both Suarez himself and Liverpool FC would completely end this whole thing IMO.

In the statement that Liverpool released after Suarez was given the 8 match ban, they painted Evra as a liar and they said he had previously accused others of racism. They slandered his name unfairly and for that they should apologise.

There will be no public apology from Liverpool or Suarez to Evra directly. If that was going to happen it would have been included in the apologies of last week.

Best just to move on from this now in the knowledge that they have tarnished their name almost irreparably in my opinion. Dalglish has shown himself up to be an absolute disgrace in all of this and unfortunately for him I think this will always hang over him and taint his legacy.

The fact that thousands of fans are still going round calling a victim of racial abuse a liar and painting him as the villain is shameful - this is directly linked to Dalglish and Suarez not apologising to Evra publicly.

Liverpool have been told by a group of local and national black leaders that they should issue an unreserved apology to Manchester United's Patrice Evra, having contributed to the "incitement of racism in football and the wider society" with their reluctant acceptance of Luis Suarez's punishment for using a racially derogatory term to Evra.

Suarez has never apologised directly to Evra and a revealing sense of how the controversy has provided an excuse for the racist minority to air their vitriol publicly was provided last week by youth worker and Liverpool FC scout Earl Jenkins. Now, in an open letter to the club and manager Kenny Dalglish, whose insistence that Suarez take a penalty in front of the Kop against Brighton on Sunday seemed a gesture of solidarity, the group have told Liverpool to accept publicly the findings of the FA-appointed independent regulatory commission once and for all. They are yet to offer such a comment.

Gloria Hyatt, who leads the group, said: "Liverpool FC has presided over the worst incident of racism in football seen in recent years. Their misguided handling of the ... saga has let down all of those in the city who work hard to challenge racism and to make Liverpool a better place to live for everyone."

Lee Jasper, the activist who was equality adviser to the Ken Livingstone during his time as Mayor of London, said: "The club, including the owners, the players and the manager need to realise the enormous damage caused by their reluctance and obdurate behaviour. Kenny Dalglish used to manage Celtic. He ought to know the importance of stamping out bigotry. The club failed the city, the nation as a whole, and Britain's black communities. Their abysmal lack of leadership on these issues has given a green light to racism. They must make urgent reparations ... and a clear and unequivocal apology."

The group's open letter says racism in football calls for "unambiguous anti-racist leadership" but that Liverpool's actions "fell short of the high standard of leadership expected for a team of their standing." The group has called for Liverpool, in partnership with ethnic minority organisations, to sponsor an international conference on the issue of eradicating racism in football.

Jenkins described how the Suarez affair had affectedhis Liverpool-supporting nephew for last week's Anfield Wrap podcast. "[He] doesn't want to go [to games] any more because for the first time he has seen our supporters racially abusing opposition players. He is scared to go." The abuse had occurred "two or three weeks ago" during an away match, Jenkins said. "[Racists] have felt comfortable saying that. They didn't before."

Liverpool have been told by a group of local and national black leaders that they should issue an unreserved apology to Manchester United's Patrice Evra, having contributed to the "incitement of racism in football and the wider society" with their reluctant acceptance of Luis Suarez's punishment for using a racially derogatory term to Evra.

Suarez has never apologised directly to Evra and a revealing sense of how the controversy has provided an excuse for the racist minority to air their vitriol publicly was provided last week by youth worker and Liverpool FC scout Earl Jenkins. Now, in an open letter to the club and manager Kenny Dalglish, whose insistence that Suarez take a penalty in front of the Kop against Brighton on Sunday seemed a gesture of solidarity, the group have told Liverpool to accept publicly the findings of the FA-appointed independent regulatory commission once and for all. They are yet to offer such a comment.

Gloria Hyatt, who leads the group, said: "Liverpool FC has presided over the worst incident of racism in football seen in recent years. Their misguided handling of the ... saga has let down all of those in the city who work hard to challenge racism and to make Liverpool a better place to live for everyone."

Lee Jasper, the activist who was equality adviser to the Ken Livingstone during his time as Mayor of London, said: "The club, including the owners, the players and the manager need to realise the enormous damage caused by their reluctance and obdurate behaviour. Kenny Dalglish used to manage Celtic. He ought to know the importance of stamping out bigotry. The club failed the city, the nation as a whole, and Britain's black communities. Their abysmal lack of leadership on these issues has given a green light to racism. They must make urgent reparations ... and a clear and unequivocal apology."

The group's open letter says racism in football calls for "unambiguous anti-racist leadership" but that Liverpool's actions "fell short of the high standard of leadership expected for a team of their standing." The group has called for Liverpool, in partnership with ethnic minority organisations, to sponsor an international conference on the issue of eradicating racism in football.

Jenkins described how the Suarez affair had affectedhis Liverpool-supporting nephew for last week's Anfield Wrap podcast. "[He] doesn't want to go [to games] any more because for the first time he has seen our supporters racially abusing opposition players. He is scared to go." The abuse had occurred "two or three weeks ago" during an away match, Jenkins said. "[Racists] have felt comfortable saying that. They didn't before."

Surprised? The scousers think Evra is a liar, despite everything that has been reported. They will never accept that Suarez was in the wrong and it shows that they're more interested in not letting United 'win' this one than actually seeing how stupid they are making themselves.

If Suarez called a Wigan player a negro, the apology would have been issued, the ignorance/culture card would have been accepted by all and everyone associated would have moved on. The scouse cnuts can't do that when it involves a Manchester United player. Wankers

Surprised? The scousers think Evra is a liar, despite everything that has been reported. They will never accept that Suarez was in the wrong and it shows that they're more interested in not letting United 'win' this one than actually seeing how stupid they are making themselves.

If Suarez called a Wigan player a negro, the apology would have been issued, the ignorance/culture card would have been accepted by all and everyone associated would have moved on. The scouse cnuts can't do that when it involves a Manchester United player. Wankers

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Absolutely, but the cost of this ridiculous attitude is the proliferation of racism and tolerance of racist behaviour

Yes, everyone can see this and I suspect the scousers can (deep down)
But it comes back to the fact it's Man United (and Evra) that they need to apologise to and seeing as they've dug their heels in from the start, they just don't have the grace to admit they're wrong. Which makes you wonder why they never appealed. The whole situation is rotten to the core and just seeing that cnut nip Evra makes me feel sick.

But it comes back to the fact it's Man United (and Evra) that they need to apologise to and seeing as they've dug their heels in from the start, they just don't have the grace to admit they're wrong.

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Sad but completely true, in my opinion. It's noticeable that pitifully few Liverpool fans still talk about clearing Suarez's name; that seems to have been very quickly forgotten & it shows that they're far more concerned with this 'loss' to Manchester United.

They are just reporting/repeating the British press stories though here. This piece is from yesterday afternoon. Most recent news I heard was the Ajax-director saying he has no knowledge of anyone giving tickets to Suarez.

Suarez's grandma weighs in. Very long article, going over a lot of the same points already stated, but from different people, with one lovely addition to that lovely chap's growing portfolio of on-field 'mishaps'. See if you can spot it.

LILA PIRIZ spreads the yellowing photos of her grandson Luis Suarez on her dining room table and beams the warm smile of cherished family moments remembered.

Gently clasping the pictures for me to see, pensioner Lila says again and again in Spanish: "Mi negrito, mi negrito." It is, she explains with moist eyes, her pet name for the £23million Liverpool striker, which translates as "My little black boy".

In the poverty-blighted cerro barrio, or hill neighbourhood, of Suarez's home city of Salto, a river port of 100,000 in north west Uruguay, it is a common nickname.

Mum-of-six Lila, 73, revealed: "This is a normal way of speaking in Uruguay. It's like calling a loved one honey, a sweet expression to use for someone."

Negrito was also the word media reports claimed Suarez, 25, used in his now infamous on-field spat with Manchester United defender Patrice Evra. In his defence to the FA Suarez claimed that what he said was commonly used as a friendly form of address in Uruguay.

An independent FA commission, however, banned the South American for eight matches, ruling that he called Evra a "negro" — Spanish for black — seven times in around two minutes. Suarez's evidence was labelled unreliable.

Liverpool were furious at the ruling, pointing out that their player's own grandfather was black.

Tensions between the two players flared again when the two sides met earlier this month and Suarez refused to shake Evra's hand. Suarez later apologised for his behaviour. The flashpoint between world famous stars from England's two most decorated sides helped prompt PM David Cameron last week to insist the FA come up with a plan to tackle racism in football.

Lila is quick to defend her grandson, a national hero in football-mad Uruguay, saying: "Using the word negro is not racist here.

"It's normal. It's a word people use with their friends. It's like calling someone fat, thin or whatever.

"My grandson shouldn't have been banned. Absolutely not. Poor Luis loves his football so much. It's a terrible punishment for him. I used to call him that name."

Salto is a humid spot on the Rio Uruguay and where Suarez began his rise from poverty-blighted street footballer to Premier League and World Cup superstar.

Lila's son, former soldier Rodolfo, married local girl Sandra Diaz when she was just 15 and he was some five years older. They had six children with Luis, the fourth eldest, arriving in January 1987.

Sipping her "mate" — a local herbal drink containing caffeine — Lila added: "There was never much money. Rodolfo, who was a good footballer himself, later worked in a biscuit factory and was a bell boy in a hotel."

Today Lila shares a modest single-storey home with her now frail ex-soldier husband Atacildo, 79, close to the barracks of the Uruguayan army's 7th Battalion.

She explains that it was on the base's bumpy pitch that Luis played his first games of football as a precocious four-year-old.

"It was just football, football, football with him," Lila says. "He seemed to have a ball at his feet as soon as he could walk."

His granny — who survives on a modest state pension — says: "Luis played with all the boys in the neighbourhood, black boys too. He was friends with everyone."

Nearby is the ramshackle, paint-peeled home where Rodolfo and Sandra began married life and had their first three children. Today the house is occupied by Sandra's brother Jorge, 41, and his family, who sell logs for a living.

Luis' cousin Jorge Diaz, 18, shows me a photo of his father Jorge Snr and grandfather Alberto, a former football referee and sugar factory worker who died from a heart attack seven years ago. Luis, a biology student, explains: "Alberto was mixed race, dark-skinned. The idea that his grandson Luis is racist is ridiculous."

When Luis was seven, mum Sandra moved the family 260 miles south to Montevideo, Uruguay's teeming capital of 1.6million people, to escape Salto's poverty.

Down a potholed gravel track in suburban Solymar – 16 miles from central Montevideo – Sandra can be found today working behind the counter of the bakery that Luis bought her five years ago.

A grandmother of nine, 47-year-old Sandra says: "My marriage to Rodolfo broke up and I had to go out to work to support the family.

"I worked as a cleaner in peoples' houses and as a hospital security guard while my mother, Pelusa, looked after the children. It was tough but we managed."

When Luis' elder brother Paolo got his break as a pro footballer he helped supplement Sandra's wages. She later married a local building worker and had a seventh child. Football, Sandra said, was Luis' great passion. At 14 he joined Uruguay's most successful club, Nacional de Montevideo, and by 16 he was part of the first team squad. On one infamous occasion, however, the young prodigy reverted to the rough and tumble football of the streets.

Nacional's technical director, Daniel Enriquez, remembers: "He was 15 and got a red card. He was angry, stormed over to the referee and headbutted him. The referee had a broken nose and was bleeding like a cow.

"We punished Luis heavily and told him it was the end. But his brother Paolo worked with us to point him in the right direction."

Suarez joined Dutch club Groningen after his childhood sweetheart Sofia Balbi moved to Europe with her family. He later moved to Ajax, then to Liverpool last year for £23million. He and Sofia married in 2009 and had their first daughter, Delfina, a year later.

His mum says of the Evra furore: "All of Uruguay is behind Luis. He is not at fault. Our family has black and mixed race members. Luis never had any problems with people of different races."

The nation's most revered football pundit, Dr Jorge da Silveira, 68, believes Suarez did nothing wrong. "In Uruguay we have a code. What happens on the football field stays on the field," the TV and radio commentator explains.

"All sorts of insults are made but when the game is over, it's over. The word negro in Spanish doesn't have the connotations it has in the UK."

Uruguay's black 2002 World Cup striker Richard "Chengue" Morales says he and his family have never experienced discrimination in Uruguay, in or out of football.

"I wouldn't care if someone called me negro or negrito even if they were angry," he says. "But in England it appears you can't do that or you will be crucified."

The dad-of-one, 37, who now scouts for young footballing talent in his homeland, adds: "I think Suarez should leave England after what has been done to his good name and go to Spain, where he will feel much more at home."

Patrice Evra himself agrees with granny Lila that her "negrito" is no racist.

The lesson is that it's not just words we use that can be hurtful but the ways in which we use them.